Ben Tanton, left, and Lucas Gallant of the Island Wolfpack Club won medals at the recent 2014 Canada East wrestling tournament in St. Stephen, N.B.

This was the biggest tournament to date for Island Wolfpack Club wrestlers Lucas Gallant of St. Louis and Ben Tanton of Summerside. Gallant won the gold medal while Tanton earned a silver.

However, Gallant and Tanton’s success did not surprise Wolfpack head coach Colin Banfield, who predicted medal results for both wrestlers.

More than 200 athletes from 30 wrestling clubs from Ontario, Quebec and throughout the Maritimes competed in the Wrestling Festival and Eastern Canadian bantam championship.

Gallant faced wrestlers from the Moncton Mountaintop Wrestling Club and the Ottawa Valley Renfrew Wresting Club in his first two matches. No points were scored on Gallant in decisive technical wins in his first two bouts, earning him his spot in the bantam boys’ championship match – 49.1 kilogram weight group.

Gallant battled in a heart-stopper against Jean-Luc Landry from the St. Stephen Wrestling Club. Two full hard-fought rounds ended in Gallant holding onto a lead to capture the gold medal.

Tanton came out strong in his first two bouts, winning by pin. He was outmatched in his third bout, losing on points to the eventual gold-medal winner Alex Cormier from Kent Middle School.

Tanton came back with another win by pin in his final match with Ivan Tremblay from the South Shore Wrestling Club in Nova Scotia, earning him silver in the bantam boys’ 45.5 kilogram weight class.

One tournament remains in the season for two other Wolfpack wrestlers. Hannah Taylor and Ligrit Sadiku will be travelling to Guelph, Ont., to compete in the 2014 Canada Cup in July.

Summer training will continue for Wolfpack wrestlers at the new Island Impact in Travellers Rest.